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Two members of Dubai’s ruling al Maktoum family and three of their senior trainers have been provisionally suspended by the FEI, along with seven endurance horses, following a cluster of positive dope tests.

All horses tested positive for three controlled substances, caffeine and its metabolites theobromine and theophylline, Theobromine, and to banned substance paraxanthine. One horse, Masreel, ridden by Sheik Hamed Dalmook al Maktoum, also tested positive to the corticosteroid flumetasone.

All the positive tests were sampled at Al Wathba, the endurance venue in Abu Dhabi owned by Sheikh Mansour al Nahyan, owner of Manchester City. Last year, Sheikh Mansour instructed that sampling be increased to a minimum 15 horses per race, well above the FEI’s sampling guidelines.

Sheikh Mohammed’s endurance stables have been at the centre of the welfare scandals engulfing the sport. Now the FEI has taken the unprecedented step of suspending three of his longest-standing trainers prior to the disciplinary hearing. They are Ismail Mohammed – who also trains thoroughbred racehorses for Sheikh Mohammed - Khalifa Ghanim Al Marri and Mohd Ahmed Ali Al Subose. All three have incurred previous suspensions for doping offences.

Sheikh Mohammed's endurance stables have been at the centre of welfare scandalsCredit:
IAN JONES

FEI secretary-general Sabrina Inbanez said: “This is the first time that we have suspended the trainers at the same time as the athletes, but when there are multiple breaches by one trainer, it is clear that there is something wrong with the stable management. Suspending the trainers immediately, rather than waiting until the athlete has been prosecuted, confirms that the FEI will not tolerate any attempts to enhance the performance of the horse.”

Irish rider Amy Louise McAuley is also caught up in the drama, as one of the many expats in the UAE for its winter season. She rode Rafik de Kerpoint in a ladies race on November 26. The other suspended riders are Saeed Sultan Shames Al Maamri, Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum, Abdulla Ghanim Al Marri - rider of two horses – and Saeed Ahmad Jaber Al Harbi.

Despite tougher application of welfare rules, 11 horses have died in UAE endurance races since December 13.

Last September, Sheikh Rashid was mired in controversy at the 2016 World Championships in Slovakia when Ajayeb broke a leg, with her corpse initially dumped at a livestock crematorium instead of being taken for compulsory autopsy. An investigation by Lord Stevens’ agency Quest found “shortcomings” but no evidence of “wrongdoing” over arrangement for transporting her off site.